Twin assaults in Syria, Iraq pile pressure on IS

Update:
May, 25/2016 - 11:00

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Iraqi Shiite fighters from a Popular Mobilisation unit patrol near the city of Fallujah after Iraqi pro-government forces launched an assault to retake the city from Islamic State group. — Photo AFP/VNA

BEIRUT – Kurdish-Arab forces launched a majorassault against the Islamic State group in Syria’s Raqa province on Tuesday andIraqi forces advanced on it in Fallujah, piling pressure on the jihadists intwo strongholds.

The twin offensives marked some of the most serious ground efforts againstIS since the group declared its self-styled "caliphate" straddling theSyrian-Iraqi border in 2014.

Territory under IS control has been steadily shrinking for months but ithas carried out a wave of attacks including bombings in the Syrian regime’scoastal heartland on Monday that killed 177 people.

It was the "deadliest bomb attack" on any regime-held area in Syria’sfive-year war, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoringgroup.

The Syrian Democratic Forces on Tuesday announced its largest offensive todate against IS territory north of the IS stronghold of Raqa city.

The offensive was aimed at pushing IS from the province’s north andsecuring other areas, the alliance said in statement on Twitter.

Baghdad-based US military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren confirmed theassault, saying it was "putting pressure on Raqa".

US air strikes would support thousands of SDF fighters, some of whom hadbeen trained and equipped by American forces, he said.

If Raqa falls, "it’s the beginning of the end of their caliphate," Warrensaid.

SDF spokesman Talal Sello said an assault on Raqa city "is not in our plannow."

A source within the Kurdish People’s Protection Units said US ground forceswould take part in the attack, but Sello denied this.

Just before the SDF announcement, Russia said it would be ready tocoordinate with both Washington and the SDF in an offensive for Raqa.

End to ’IS myth’?

The US rejected a Russian proposal last week for joint air operationsagainst jihadist groups in Syria.

The anti-IS coalition headed by Washington has set its sights on Raqa inSyria, as well as Fallujah – and eventually IS’s main bastion of Mosul – inIraq.

"It’s clear that if the US wants to eliminate IS, it has to attack it onmultiple fronts at the same time," said Washington-based Syria analyst FabriceBalanche.

"Cutting the route between Raqa and Mosul isn’t difficult today. It willput an end to the myth of a transnational IS," he said.

On Tuesday, Iraqi forces closed in on Fallujah after capturing the nearbytown of Garma and cutting IS off from one of its last support areas.

"Federal forces advanced towards the east of Fallujah early today fromthree directions," said police Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat.

The Hashed al-Shaabi umbrella paramilitary organisation, dominated byTehran-backed Shiite militias heavily involved in the operation, said groundwas also gained south of Fallujah.

With forces converging, concerns grew that the estimated 50,000 civiliansbelieved to still be inside had nowhere to go.

"Families who have been suffering food and medical shortages over the lastmonths now risk being caught in the crossfire," said the Norwegian RefugeeCouncil’s country director Nasr Muflahi.

It was "absolutely vital that they are granted safe routes out of there,"he added.

Officials from Anbar, the vast western province in which Fallujah islocated, said small numbers of civilians had managed to sneak out.

Scramble to save ceasefire

A Fallujah resident reached by telephone said there was heavy shelling onthe northern edge of the city.

"Daesh (IS) is still imposing a curfew, preventing people from coming outon the street," said the man, who gave his name as Abu Mohammed al-Dulaimi.

It was unclear what kind of defence IS was prepared to put up in Fallujah,a city that looms large in modern jihadist mythology since 2004 battles thatsaw US forces suffer some of their worst losses since the Viet Nam War.

Iraqi and US-led coalition aircraft have been pounding Fallujah and itssurroundings to support the operation.

The offensives came as Washington and Moscow scrambled to salvage a shakyceasefire between the regime and non-jihadist rebels intended to pave the wayfor peace talks.

The US envoy for Syria has urged rebels to respect the February 27ceasefire after they gave its brokers – Washington and Moscow – until Tuesdayafternoon to stop an advance on rebel strongholds outside Damascus.

"We recognise that the CoH (Cessation of Hostilities) is under severestress, but believe that to abandon it now would be strategic error," MichaelRatney tweeted.

Staunch regime ally Russia also called for a 72-hour truce in EasternGhouta and Daraya near Damascus from Tuesday.

And the two areas were relatively calm, with clashes subsiding since dawn,said the Observatory. – AFP